Offaly sweep past poor Carlow

Offaly 2-19 Carlow 3-7

Offaly condemned a rookie Carlow side to the Tommy Murphy Cup as they claimed a comfortable Leinster SFC quarter-final win at O'Moore Park.

Aided by goals from Neville Coughlan and Karol Slattery, Offaly had too much firepower for a Carlow outfit that included eight championship debutants.

Paul Reid did kick Carlow in front after only 13 seconds but the Barrowsiders were 1-10 to 1-1 behind by the interval, with Coughlan and Derek Hayden swapping goals.

Offaly moved 18 points clear before Carlow revived themselves with a quick 2-2, which included an Alan McNamee own goal and a James Hickey major.

OFFALY: P Kelly; G Rafferty, J Quinn, J Keane; P McConway, S Brady, K Slattery (1-1); A McNamee (capt) (0-1; 1-0 own goal), N Smith; N Coughlan (1-1), P Kellaghan (0-1), C McManus (0-1); T Deehan, PJ Ward (0-8, 0-2f), N McNamee (0-6, 0-3f).

Subs used: S Ryan for Kellaghan, J Coughlan for Deehan (both 50 mins), N Grennan for Rafferty (56), C Mahon for Ward (64), C Evans for Keane (67).

CARLOW: J Clarke; J Ryan, C Bolger, M Nolan; P Cashin, E Doyle, J Hickey (1-0); G Morrissey, M Brennan; K Nolan, D Hayden (1-0), M Carpenter (0-1); P Reid (0-1), D Byrne (0-1), B Kelly (capt) (0-2, 0-1f).

Subs used: R McGrath for Morrissey (19 mins), A Murphy for Bolger (half-time), JJ Smith (0-1) for Cashin (47), N Conway (0-1) for Kelly (53), P Doyle for Reid (65).

Referee: Michael Daly (Mayo)